thedrifter
07-16-07, 07:39 AM
How should I spend my bonus?
By Rick Maze and William H. McMichael - rmaze@militarytimes.com and bmcmichael@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 23, 2007
Troops know investing their big retention bonuses is a good idea — but sometimes life gets in the way. There are bills to pay, vehicles to buy and sometimes ex-spouses to satisfy.
Marine Master Sgt. William Canfield, a career retention specialist at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who has received a total of $58,000 in three re-enlistment bonuses in his 23-year career, knows all about the highs and lows of coming into long green.
His first bonus, $27,000, came in 1988. “I got land in Texas, I got a new car. It helped me fund my PCS move — it was awesome,” he said. He built a house on the half-acre plot. “My mom lives on that land to this day,” he said.
The second bonus, in 1991, was a tax-free payment of $21,000. Unlike the land and car from the first bonus, Canfield said this one “was blown quickly on the first wife.”
“I have nothing to show for it,” he said. “That was a sad personal loss on my side. It could have been used for so many things. It was a $21,000 life lesson.”
Canfield re-enlisted again July 1, and got an assignment incentive bonus of $10,000. That paid for a big graduation party for his daughter and took care of debts incurred for gardening services and other expenses during his year in Iraq.
Navy Master Chief Ronald Culpepper, a SEAL assigned as operations master chief for Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in San Diego, had an easier time figuring out how to use his $145,000 tax-free re-enlistment bonus — it’s his retirement nut. He used some to buy land and simply put the rest in savings.
“If I want to work after I get out of the military, I can. If I don’t want to, I don’t have to,” he said.
Tech. Sgt. Michelle Short, 26, a C-17 flying crew chief based at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., got a $33,600 bonus in 2002 to re-enlist for six years. She’s also keeping it simple: She paid off a car, and bought a truck and paid that off in two years. But most of the money is working hard in an investment portfolio.
“I’ve just been plugging money away into savings. No spouse, no kids ... that’s the way to go.”
Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Drakes, a health care specialist at Fort Lewis, Wash., earned a more modest sum of $15,000 in April, and cleared $10,500 after taxes. So far, he’s spent judiciously — less than $2,000, to date.
Drakes said he “just kind of fixed the motorcycle up. We sent the kids home to Georgia,” so he and his wife could be alone for the summer. “We’re going to take an Alaskan cruise,” he said.
Tech. Sgt. Marco Cervos, a communications-computer system controller at McChord, got a $60,000 bonus four years ago. “I paid off some bills” and put the rest in long-term savings, he said — though some of the money did go to underwrite a family vacation.
Some troops are less interested in saving than in paying off bills and buying new toys. Gunnery Sgt. Sean McCullogh, 34, combat camera chief with 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, got a $9,000 bonus about four years ago.
“I paid off some bills and bought myself a new laptop,” he said. He still owns the laptop, though it no longer works after his girlfriend’s cat recently toppled it off a table.
Spc. Jason Plumley, 23, a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic at Fort Lewis and a veteran of one Iraq tour, was paid $7,500 for a recent re-enlistment. As befits his military job, he’s looking for some new wheels — but something with a little more zip than your typical military vehicle. “I’ve got my eyes on a bike,” he said — a Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle.
Navy Fire Control Technician 2nd Class Cesar Mancinas, stationed in San Diego, received a $10,000 enlistment bonus and $40,000 re-enlistment bonus. The $10,000 was spent on a car — a Saturn — that he traded in after wearing it out from weekend trips home for four years. He was able to pay for it with a check, he said. The $40,000, paid in installments with half up front, went to pay off debts and cover the cost of some new furniture.
Marine Cpl. Cara Tighe, 22, a postal clerk at Camp Pendleton, got a $10,000 bonus and bought not just one car, but two, with the bonus money as well as what she saved while serving in Iraq. Aside from the $1,000 she spent for a laptop while in the war zone, she said she spent “barely a penny” during her tour.
When she got home, she bought a new car, using some of her savings as a large down payment, but decided she didn’t really like the vehicle. When someone promised to buy it, she bought a second car. The prospective buyer of the first car then reneged, leaving her with two new cars and two new car payments.
But in an example of how bonus money and tax-free earnings in a war zone can create big financial cushions for service members, Tighe isn’t at all concerned.
“I have plenty of money to pay for both — in my checking account, not even my savings.”
Ellie
By Rick Maze and William H. McMichael - rmaze@militarytimes.com and bmcmichael@militarytimes.com
Posted : July 23, 2007
Troops know investing their big retention bonuses is a good idea — but sometimes life gets in the way. There are bills to pay, vehicles to buy and sometimes ex-spouses to satisfy.
Marine Master Sgt. William Canfield, a career retention specialist at Camp Pendleton, Calif., who has received a total of $58,000 in three re-enlistment bonuses in his 23-year career, knows all about the highs and lows of coming into long green.
His first bonus, $27,000, came in 1988. “I got land in Texas, I got a new car. It helped me fund my PCS move — it was awesome,” he said. He built a house on the half-acre plot. “My mom lives on that land to this day,” he said.
The second bonus, in 1991, was a tax-free payment of $21,000. Unlike the land and car from the first bonus, Canfield said this one “was blown quickly on the first wife.”
“I have nothing to show for it,” he said. “That was a sad personal loss on my side. It could have been used for so many things. It was a $21,000 life lesson.”
Canfield re-enlisted again July 1, and got an assignment incentive bonus of $10,000. That paid for a big graduation party for his daughter and took care of debts incurred for gardening services and other expenses during his year in Iraq.
Navy Master Chief Ronald Culpepper, a SEAL assigned as operations master chief for Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in San Diego, had an easier time figuring out how to use his $145,000 tax-free re-enlistment bonus — it’s his retirement nut. He used some to buy land and simply put the rest in savings.
“If I want to work after I get out of the military, I can. If I don’t want to, I don’t have to,” he said.
Tech. Sgt. Michelle Short, 26, a C-17 flying crew chief based at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., got a $33,600 bonus in 2002 to re-enlist for six years. She’s also keeping it simple: She paid off a car, and bought a truck and paid that off in two years. But most of the money is working hard in an investment portfolio.
“I’ve just been plugging money away into savings. No spouse, no kids ... that’s the way to go.”
Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Drakes, a health care specialist at Fort Lewis, Wash., earned a more modest sum of $15,000 in April, and cleared $10,500 after taxes. So far, he’s spent judiciously — less than $2,000, to date.
Drakes said he “just kind of fixed the motorcycle up. We sent the kids home to Georgia,” so he and his wife could be alone for the summer. “We’re going to take an Alaskan cruise,” he said.
Tech. Sgt. Marco Cervos, a communications-computer system controller at McChord, got a $60,000 bonus four years ago. “I paid off some bills” and put the rest in long-term savings, he said — though some of the money did go to underwrite a family vacation.
Some troops are less interested in saving than in paying off bills and buying new toys. Gunnery Sgt. Sean McCullogh, 34, combat camera chief with 1st Marine Logistics Group at Camp Pendleton, got a $9,000 bonus about four years ago.
“I paid off some bills and bought myself a new laptop,” he said. He still owns the laptop, though it no longer works after his girlfriend’s cat recently toppled it off a table.
Spc. Jason Plumley, 23, a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic at Fort Lewis and a veteran of one Iraq tour, was paid $7,500 for a recent re-enlistment. As befits his military job, he’s looking for some new wheels — but something with a little more zip than your typical military vehicle. “I’ve got my eyes on a bike,” he said — a Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle.
Navy Fire Control Technician 2nd Class Cesar Mancinas, stationed in San Diego, received a $10,000 enlistment bonus and $40,000 re-enlistment bonus. The $10,000 was spent on a car — a Saturn — that he traded in after wearing it out from weekend trips home for four years. He was able to pay for it with a check, he said. The $40,000, paid in installments with half up front, went to pay off debts and cover the cost of some new furniture.
Marine Cpl. Cara Tighe, 22, a postal clerk at Camp Pendleton, got a $10,000 bonus and bought not just one car, but two, with the bonus money as well as what she saved while serving in Iraq. Aside from the $1,000 she spent for a laptop while in the war zone, she said she spent “barely a penny” during her tour.
When she got home, she bought a new car, using some of her savings as a large down payment, but decided she didn’t really like the vehicle. When someone promised to buy it, she bought a second car. The prospective buyer of the first car then reneged, leaving her with two new cars and two new car payments.
But in an example of how bonus money and tax-free earnings in a war zone can create big financial cushions for service members, Tighe isn’t at all concerned.
“I have plenty of money to pay for both — in my checking account, not even my savings.”
Ellie